Flea Market Finds

Yayy for Flea Markets!!!!

Today my boyfriend and I ventured to a local monthly flea market here in South Florida (ok, I kind of dragged him there, but he liked it more than he wants to admit!) As far as flea markets go this was a pretty good one with an eclectic mix of old and new with everything from...

Jewelry...

to Books...

to Glassware...

to Collectibles...

to an entire booth dedicated to Salt and Pepper Shakers :)

(And yes those captions were ombre, thanks for noticing!!)

So, with so much to choose from its safe to say that deciding what to take home was a challenge, but I like a good challenge!! After about an hour and a half of winding up and down the rows, and after losing my bf about 5 times (it was so crowded!!) I walked out with a few cool trinkets that only set me back $6! (and that was without any haggling!) Check out my finds:

1.

I love old bottles! This is a really cool old glue bottle that is marked on top with the manufacturer, "KWIK STIK" and two patent dates: DEC.21.15 and JUL.15.19! Aka this bottle is from 1919!
Cost: $1

2.

This is a vintage advertisement for Cream Separators!! I love that I have no idea what I cream separator is, but according to the man who sold it to me as far as old advertisements go, cream separator ads are the "cream of the crop" (no pun intended of course!)
Cost: $1

3. 

I don't have too much info on this one besides the obvious, that it's an old (probably hand-colored) litho of a women at a writing desk. It was just so pretty I couldn't pass it up!
Cost: $1

4.  

This is probably my favorite find of the day! It's a cast iron, hand-painted toy soldier. I have another old iron toy soldier I got at a previous flea market, so it looks like I am starting a collection!
Cost: $2

5. 

Last but not least, is this cute novelty ring! It's not old or valuable but cute, so why not :)
Cost: $1

The last thing I got at this flea market was an advertisement for another flea market next weekend! I think I might be going that one solo, my bf might be flea marketed out for awhile! :) 

So until next time!!

Thanks for stopping by, 

-Liz :)

Simple Stone Plant Labels

Last week I posted about my new container gardens, which are growing great by the way! Yayy! But in my herb garden I still had the herb labels that come with the plants, which although informative are not super aesthetically pleasing! So, the obvious answer of course was to d.i.y. some! I have seen a number of these done before on other blogs and pinterest, using everything from popsicle sticks to spoons, but I wanted to keep mine more natural so I decided to use...

Rocks!!!

It doesn't get much simpler than this! And in terms of $$, well rocks are free!!!

All you need besides your rocks is a paint pen of any color. I like the look of dark rocks with white lettering but you could do any color you want!

If you are worried about the paint washing off from watering, just give them a quick spray with clear sealant or brush a little outdoor Mod Podge over the writing once dry.

Rosemary :)

I used a larger rock I found right outside my door to make a cute label for my succulent garden as well :)

Even collecting the rocks was fun! Would be a great activity for children as well, take them on a nature walk/scavenger hunt and have them help you find some pretty, smooth rocks! :) Or just take a leisurely walk yourself and don't forget to smell those roses!!

Thanks for stopping by

-Liz :)

More Upcycled Planters!

Hi again!

I am back in Florida after a month long vacation at home in Wisconsin! Sadly, when my boyfriend picked me up at the airport he hesitantly told me about the tragedy that had occurred in my absence... all my plants had died :( lol. Yes, worse things have happened, and yes I kind of expected this (even with my regular reminders to water them!), but nonetheless I couldn't help feel a small sense of loss! But with any loss comes opportunity to rebuild, so thats what I did!! This time instead of using many small containers for my garden I have decided to consolidate (so much easier to water!!).

My plan this time was to have three main containers, 1) a herb garden, 2) a succulent garden and 3) a flower box.

For the flower box I will be using a vintage planter that needs a little work, so stay tuned for the before and after on that one!

For my herb garden I decided to use a gorgeous vintage 7up divided crate that I found at an estate sale for $10 back in Wisconsin! Check it out:

Love the graphic! Even though its a little faded, just adds to the vintage charm :)

Four herbs so far: boxwood basil, rosemary, parsley, and peppermint! This container can hold up to 10 (the two middle ones on the sides have handles cut into them so would not be able to hold enough dirt, but 10 is plenty for me!)

And for my succulent garden I used an old wooden box (I believe an old tool box?) that I have had for awhile:

I used mostly succulents I already had that were still in their original plastic containers, and bought a few more to round out the garden :)

Close-up!

I also had to replace the plant in my hanging planter that I made from an old egg basket:

This beautiful bunch of yellow flowers looks much sturdier than the original white flowers I had planted (crossing my fingers I can keep them alive!!)

Close-up of hanging crystals! 

A little more inspiration for your container gardens at home :)

-Liz :)

Telephone Table Upcycle!

This post is to introduce my latest potential project! I am at home for the month (Yayyyyy Wisconsin!!) and just the other day I went to the local Salvation Army (at which the prices are SOOO much more reasonable than in Florida!) and picked up this adorable telephone table for just 10$!

Cute detail on the back!

This one is kind of unique because of the two shelves, I have never seen one like this before. Its almost more like a sideways school desk, the top shelf even has a cut out for your pencil! 

For anyone who doesn't know what a telephone table is it pretty much just that, a table with a chair/bench attached that the telephone was placed on back in the day! They are definitely finding their way back to popularity for design and repurposing because of their compact size and shear cuteness! So needless to say I have been dying to get my hands on one of these to repurpose, and when I saw this one for only 10$ it was a no brainer!!

So with a little TLC and some DIY I'm going to bring this telephone table back to life! Stay tuned!


-Liz :)



P.S. My Mom also got this awesome ladder back chair in that same trip for only 5$!

Wait, That's A What?

As I have already mentioned, I recently just moved into a bigger apartment so I am in the process of decorating aka many of my posts will revolve around this, including this one!

There was a space right next to our front door that I really couldn't decide what to do with, until my bf suggested an entry table (although he didn't use the exact words "entry table" more like why don't we put a table there or something? lol).

So the search was on for some sort of table/cabinet that would fill the space and maybe add a little storage. I began searching at my local thrift stores for a piece that just needed a little tlc. But everything was too big or too ornate or just plain ugly. Until...

I found this awesome little cabinet at a thrift store near by, and at a price of $45, deal! But this wasn't exactly the plain old storage cabinet I thought...

Surprise! It's a sowing machine! That definitely threw me at first and my immediate reaction was to walk away, but my mom convinced me it could be perfect with a little reinvention so we got it! (barely into my two-door Honda).

First step, was bye bye sowing machine! Its definitely a cool old sowing machine but I was not really in the market for one so I detached it:

This left me with yes a hole, but also an awesome conveyor platform thing (where the sowing machine sat) that raises when you flip the top open. I already have some ideas for this!

So, I am going to attempt to pull a "Flea Market Flip"(or in this case "thrift store flip" lol) - for any of you who don't watch that show you probably should!- and transform this old sowing machine into something totally different!

To Be Continued...

-Liz :)